O'HARE Family History

Recorded as O'Hare and O'Hair, sometimes McHare, or Hare or Hair, this is a famous Irish clan surname. It is said to have been one of the few surnames to resist the temptation in the 17th century to discard the Gaelic prefix O', meaning male descendant of. Nevertheless there has been and there remains, considerable confusion in Ireland as to the true origin, because many English and Scottish settlers were also called Hare or Hair. The situation is now that it is difficult, if not impossible in many cases, given the paucity of records, to distinguish between origins.